Machines for shaping sheet metal



July 19, 1960 P. Roux 2,945,528

MACHINES FOR SHAPING SHEET METAL Filed April 19, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet July 19, 1960 P. ROUX MACHINES FOR SHAPING SHEET METAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 19, 1957 o 2 I Q I z a a a July 19, 1960 Filed April 19, 1957 P. ROUX MACHINES FOR SHAPING SHEET METAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 MACHINES non SHAPING SHEET'METAL Pierre Roux, Paris, France, assignor to Etablssemets -L. Morane Societe Anonyme, Paris, 'France Filed Apr. ;19, ,1957 Ser. No. '654,*0'22 'Claims priority, :application France Apr. 30,1956

:1 claim. (CI. 153-432) There already iexists a :large number of ;machines `for shaping sheet metal `along its :surface :by means :got a -shaping or :forming member which, subjected .to 'a psuflicient thrust, is applied against a *sheet ot metal which is in a' first type 'of these machines, the fam-ring member arranged flat, and two jaws ;grip' two :of .the ,opposite 'edges of the metal sheet. The ,forming member 'moves vertically and :the `jaws move horizontally.

In another type of machine, &the -forming member is fixed and it is the 'jaws which move in such manner zas to apply the metal :sheet over the entire useful contour of *the forming member. The ;jaws 'rare -'carried for :examp'le by articulated system, and .they move :in :the plane of the :metal sheet.

The first type of machine ?has the disadvnnta'ge "that it curvesthe .edges nf :the sheet.

The second %type of 'machine has :the=.-drawback-o ;being extremely bulky, :and 'also .it 'does ;not enable relatively closed profiles to be obtained, since it is not possible to bring the iaws closer 'together than a 'certain *minimum dstance The present invention has for :its aobjeet to reduce these drawbacks as far as possible 'Ithas for its object a machine for bending and shapngmetl sheets; cnmpris- :ing a `iorming membermovablelina.vxertical plm, :and two groups :ofjaws or gripping members arrangedren each side of this vertical plane so as to hold the sheet and to force it to bend, the said jaws being articulated on the support so as to be able to &follow the direction of the tension of the metal sheet, the supports of the jaws being movable in planes sloping downwards towards the vertical plane in which the movement of the forming member is effected.

It should be observed that the machine possesses a large number of parameters for carrying out relative movement of the formng member and the jaws. For this reason, it is possible to carry out different bending movements of the metal sheet by suitable adjustment of the machine. The overall size of the machine is furthermore quite acceptable.

The description which follows below with reference to the accompanying drawings (which are given by way of example only and not in any sense by way of lmitation) will make it quite clear how the invention may be carried into efiect, the special features which are brought out, either in the drawings or in the text, being understood to form a part of the said invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view in elevation of the machine, showing clearly the geometric forms of its various members.

Fig. 2 is similar to Fig. 1, and shows the most general form of operation of the machine.

Fig. 3 is similar to Figs. l and 2, and shows a particular form of operation of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to that shown in Fig. l of one form of embodiment of the machine.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section along the line V-V of Fig.

"2 4, in 'which cross-section there has been shownonly complete symmetrical carriages, including the members carried by these carriages. i

Fig. 6 is a cross-section taken along the line Vl-VI of Fig. 4. e

The bending of the metal sheet is, tended ..tobe elf .by supporting and bendingit on a orming member), of which only the profile is shown in-Fig. 1,:ad which extends at right angles to ,the plane of the drawing. This ,forming ,member is arranged on .a table ;2 which sean turn on a supporting girder :3, movable verticallv -in a plane X--X'.- This ,girder is carried by its-extremities on vertical jack rods .4, the movements of which .are independent. .Pivots .are provided at `,5 in order teper- :mit of unequal vertical traveLof the -jacks, rendin conse- .qence, a more or less pronounced and adjustable slope of the lgirder 3 in the vertical plane .X-:X .In 'reach .side of `this plane `X-X' :arelmounted a numberaof for gripping and handling .the metal sheetsof which only two 'have been shown for .the sake ofsimplicity. Each nit .comprises .a .caTiage -6 or the upper .pari of which is mounted a jack ,7, pivotally .attached :to the carnage by a horizontal spindle 8. The rod 9sof :the jaokcan `rztate in the jack, ,andcarries at :itsextremity a -.cage 10 in `the form of a stirrup, ,in which ,is pivotally ,mountm on aspindle ,11 perpendicular to the rodz9 apairpf gipp'g jaws 1-2 the jacks 'lapplyingatensile fierce to the metal .sheet 21 which gripped between the jaws. The carriage 6 is provided at its supper ,portion witha laver :13, ,pivotally mounted on a horizontal ,pindlet on which it `can "be locked in position. :The extrem-hy of lever 13 then forms a supporting :abutmet Aaa, whichprevents the ;movements of the jawsabout ,the spindless `and 9 (left hand part ofFig. 1); :The ,car-

riage 6 is .movable by .displacementalong the ,length hof a rod ,15 ,sloping .downwards towards;theplane X XZ This rod is provided lat ,its extremities with .two ,pvotal mount'ings, of .which that in .the vicinityl of tlemlane ,X--X, or the r ear,extremity 16., is fixed The other ,pivot 1'7 is .arrangejcl atdhe extremity 'of the rod sgof ajack '19 "which is supported obliquefly on theoundatipn 'by means ofa pivoted joint 20. 'The' displac'ement'of the carriage 6 along the rod 15 is obtained by rotation of the rod about its own axis, the rod being threaded to correspond with a threaded portion of the carriage.

The schematic description which has just been given shows that =t is possible to move the forming member in a vertical plane, to give it an inclination in this plane and also with respect to this plane. The mountng of the jaws enables them to take up any appropriate direction, when the lever 13 is not locked, and it is also possible to move the carriage 6 over a desired distance and along any desired slope.

Fig. 2 shows the most general form of operation of the sheet-bending and shaping machine, shown in Fig. l. The metal sheet, indicated by the dotted lines 21 and Originally flat (see Fig. l), is subjected to a deformation produced by the forming member 1 carrying out an upward movement, which movement is combined with the downward movements of the carriages 6 along the rods 15. It can be seen that by virtue of the three pivotal axes of the jaws, the line of action of the jaws is located automatically in the plane of the metal sheet, so that there is no bending of the edges of the sheet. In addition, the inclination of the rods 15 reduces the vertical travel of the forming member 1 required to obtain a given degree of deformation.

Fig. 3 shows a form of operation in which the bending of the metal sheet is elfected by bringing the jaws and the forming member close together, by means of a rising movement of the jack rods 18. The levers 13 are then locked in position. This arrangement makes it possible to shape the metal sheet to forms having concave portions such as that shown in Fig. 3, and more precsely, forms which close towards the bottom, which result cannot be obtained with the arrangement of Fig. 2 in which the movements are limited by the width of the table 2.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 show one form of Construction of the machine. The parts already shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3 are given the same reference numbers. are supported by a frame 22 comprising two 'vertical guides 23 which control the movement of the formng member. The carriages 6 slide in Slots 24 (one carrage per slot) formed in tables 25 which are pivotally mounted at their lower parts about longitudinal shafts 16. The threaded rods which operate the carrages are arranged in the slots 24 and are driven by separate electric motors 26. In Fig. 5, the carrages corresponding to the various `slots have not been shown; only two complete carriages have been drawn-in. In the position of least possible inclination, each table rests on the frame at 27 through the medium of supporting abutments. Each carriage 6 is formed in two parts, an upper part 6a carrying the jack and a lower part Gb (see Fig. 5) sliding on the table, these two parts being capable of being sl'ghtly displaced one with respect to the other by means of a threaded rod 6c moved by a lever 6d so as to provide a control adjustment of the position of the starting plane of the tensoning jaws.

As is particularly shown in Fig. 6, it is the cylinders 4a of the jacks 4 which are movable with respect to their p'stons and which carry slides 28 at their upper extremites, sldirg in vertical guides 23 of the frame. The

' girder 3 is pivotally coupled to one of these slides by a pivot 29 about which it can rotate, and to the other slide by an elongated slot 3 0 cooperating with a pivot 31 coupled to this slide, so as to permit the nclination of the grder with respect to the horizontal. This inclned position is shown in chain-dotted lines in Fig. 6. At

' each of its extremties, the girder carries two screw-jacks 32 mounted on each side of the girder. These jacks are pivotally connected at their lower part to the girder and at their upper part to the extremities of a rocking-lever 33 coupled to the table which carries the forming member. This tables rests by a semi-cylindrical hearing surface 34 on a corresponding cylndrical bea'ing 35 formed in the upper part of the grder. By varying the relative These members lengths of the two jacks 32, the former-carryng table 2 is given an inclination, and in consequence the forming member is inclned with respect to its vertical plane of movement.

It will of course be understood that modifications may be made to the forms of embodiment which have just been described, in particular by the substitution of equivalent technical means, without thereby departing from the spirit or from the scope of the present invention.

What I claim is:

A machine for shapng metal sheets comprsing, in combination, a movable forming member; means for displacng said forming member in a substantially vertical plane; two sets of grpping members respectively arranged on opposite sides of said vertical plane and adapted to hold a metal sheet while resisting the forces resulting from the displacement of said formng member; a movable support for each of said gripping members; connecting means for connecting each of said gripping members to its support for turning movement about three axes substantally normal to each other so that said gripping members may follow the direction of tension of the metal sheet; guide means for guiding the movements of said supports, said guide means forming respectively inclned guides slopng downwardly towards said vertical plane and being pivotally mounted at their lower ends thereof adjacent said vertical plane for turning movement about horizontal axes; means for varying the inclination of each of said guides independently of the other said guides; first moving means for moving each of said supports independently along said guide means thereof, and independent of said means for dsplacng said forming member, toward and away from said vertical plane; and second moving means operatively connected to said grippng members and said supports, respectively, for ndependently moving said gripping members toward and away from said supports.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,041,365 Mitchell et al. May 19, 1936 2,442,268 Fields et al. May 25, 1948 2,459,132 Nielson Jan. 11, 1949 2,753,915 Raynes July 10, 1956 2,759,513 Green Aug. 21, 1956 

